Deadly Spiral (Chaos Series, Book 1) ~on hold~

III. Calvin

Fire crackled as trees blazed, the unbearable heat plastering Calvin's clothes to his body. Smoke billowed across his head, attempting to breach the thick canopy of leaves. He hadn't expected the warlocks to attack them, unless they thought they were-

"We aren't the humans, there's no need to fight," Calvin shouted as he promptly pushed himself to his feet and faced the direction of the attack. Jem tightened her grip on his neck; her ragged breathing caressed his skin.

Cassandra gazed at him curiously, slowly getting to her feet. "We would like to help you protect yourselves."

He smiled at her. Their bond was like none he had ever forged before. They fought together without any qualms, protecting her had quickly gained priority over defending his own life. He trusted her.

"Why should we believe you?" asked a stern voice.

They were being careful; the tribe had probably crossed paths with the humans before, and were taking measures to avoid any chance of it reoccurring. Calvin glanced at Drew; the boy laid flat on his stomach but lifted his head when he sensed his gaze. Drew's celestial gold eyes narrowed and he frowned.

As if guessing Calvin's plan, he shook his head. "No."

"Come on Drew, just fly for them," Calvin pleaded.

"They clipped my wings."

"Just try, please."

Drew bit his lower lip but reluctantly jumped to his feet. "I won't fly, but there might be something else I could do." He clenched his fist and closed his eyes; the flames that threatened to consume the trees were slowly being snuffed out, one by one. As Drew's face contorted with pain, Calvin walked over to him and placed his hand on the boy's rigid shoulder. "That's enough."

"I'm sorry," he told Drew. He hadn't meant to cause him any pain. He was sure flying was a simple task. But the boy seemed to have other thoughts on the matter. Glancing around, he realized that Drew had managed to extinguish most of the flames, some enveloped trees in the distance but it was too far away to hurt them.

What the hell was that?

Was it the light crunch of leaves beneath someone's feet as they moved stealthily towards them?

Calvin spun around, listening keenly. These light mages were giving him a headache; he was beginning to think they should give up on their goal altogether. He summoned Lexon and twirled the handle in the palm of his hand, where would the enemy strike first?

His gaze fell on Cassandra as she stood poised with her rapier. Good, she heard it too, that left one less person for him to worry about. But his relief was short lived.

Calvin barely registered the flash of white robes that passed between the tree trunks on his right. The warlocks seemed to be waiting for a signal, the rustling of their robes vanished, only to be replaced by an eerie silence.

"Lay down your weapons," said the voice.

"Why?" asked Calvin. "So you can attack while we are defenceless?"

"We recognize that there is truth in what you speak and we welcome your help. "

Calvin gripped his sword's handle. It didn't seem right to obey him, after the surprise attack they launched. Why would Calvin purposely put himself at a disadvantage? He glanced in the direction of the voice, a clump of mature trees casted long shadows over the ground. There was no sign of their robes, no footsteps reaching across the expanse, just nothing. "We prefer to keep our weapons," he replied, "and I'm not in the mood to compromise after almost being vaporized."